The Los Angeles Lakers will start the 2025-26 season without LeBron James, which will force some of their other players, like Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, to step up in his absence.
Even though Reaves is expected to pick up some of the slack in James’ absence, he believes it won’t be strictly on him or Dončić for the Lakers to play well while James is out with an injury.
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How Does Austin Reaves Feel About the Lakers Without LeBron James?
While talking with reporters on October 17, Reaves made it clear that he believes the Lakers can step up as a team while James recovers from his injury.
“We got a lot of really talented guys that I’m definitely not gonna be out there and be LeBron James if that was the case,” Reaves told reporters, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “… We have to do it as a collective, and I’m just excited to start the regular season going out to be there with the guys we got and hopefully put together a lot of wins.”
Austin Reaves speaks about not putting too much of LeBron’s absence on his shoulders (“We have to do it as a collective”) while also growing as a leader in his 5 years in L.A. (“My rookie year, I literally never spoke. I didn’t talk to anybody”) pic.twitter.com/WTDwFaR3Ze
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 17, 2025
As James has aged, he has progressively missed more games than he did when he was in his prime with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat. In the 2024 season, he only missed 12 games. The Lakers went 6-6 in the games that James missed.
Nine of those 12 games were played after the Lakers acquired Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks. During that time, they went 4-5. With the Western Conference getting even tougher during the offseason, the Lakers definitely have their work cut out for them, regardless of whether James is healthy or not.
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This could be good practice for how the team will prepare itself when James leaves, either via retirement or by going to another team in free agency. Eventually, this will be Dončić’s team, and Reaves will be his right-hand man.
Obviously, the Lakers will be better when James returns, and hopefully, his absence won’t be for too long. However, Reaves harps on a good point here that it won’t be just on him to pick up the slack. For the Lakers to keep their heads above water, they’ll need contributions from everyone, from Deandre Ayton to Jarred Vanderbilt to Gabe Vincent.
